


Two-Body Problem

by Gallus



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 17:04:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21285158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gallus/pseuds/Gallus
Summary: Snapshots of Ling's possession
Relationships: Greed (Ling) & Ling Yao
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	Two-Body Problem

It goes like this.

-

Ling is falling. There’s nothing here to hold on to. Nothing but a screaming mass of souls. All around him he hears _Please help me_ and _Make it stop_ and _Why is this happening_ but under all of that he hears the overwhelming thrum of _Mine Mine Mine_.

He’s being stabbed, he’s being pulled inside out, he’s dying when he sees the mask of a demon.

**What’s this brat doing here Are you lost**

**Just sit back relax and let Greed take charge**

This is what he’s been looking for. This is his ticket to immortality. Ling accepts without hesitation.

The demon is taken aback. It questions him, questions his resolve.

Ling grabs one of the screaming souls that’s cutting into him, and tears it out. It hums _Mine Mine Mine_ under his fingertips, and he can feel its want sinking into his skin.

He screams his resolve at the demon. He tells it how he’s going to be emperor, how Lan Fan’s sacrifice won’t be in vain, how he needs more power to make this happen.

The demon’s grin stretches ever wider as it accepts him

**You're greedy yourself I like that**

And Ling is falling, and he is falling, and he is falling.

-

Ling is slipping. Greed is in turmoil, and it's left cracks for Ling to sink into. He scrambles for purchase as Greed runs and runs. Things ooze out through the cracks as he claws at them. Greed doesn’t know where he’s going, doesn't know why he wants to be alive.

He jams his fingernails into the seams of himself, of Greed, of them, and he feels the singular need to hurt Wrath, to hurt Bradley, for what he’s done.

But he can’t do that now. He needs to get away. He forces himself to believe that he can come back for Bradley later.

He slips, and he can feel it again. Being at the end of Wrath’s sword, Lan Fan over his shoulder, but he’s not fast enough, never fast enough, and the blade cuts through his neck like it’s nothing.

Ling regains his footing. He can’t let this distract him now.

Amazingly, he runs into Ed. He tells Edward what little he knows about father’s plan. He’s slipping. He asks about Lan Fan.

Ling is slipping away, and Greed is leaving, but then Ed stops him and says, “Do you want to be allies?”

Greed hesitates, and Ling thinks that maybe Greed is slipping too.

-

Ling is sinking. It’s easy being like this. There’s no need to think about anything besides the rhyme of _Hack Slash Cut_. Greed’s always said he doesn't like doing this because it detracts from his stunning good looks, as if anyone has ever been fooled by that line. The humming _Mine Mine Mine_ is almost unbearable like this. It pushes out other unnecessary thoughts.

_Hack Slash Cut_

Ling’s whole body sings with it now. _Mine Mine Mine_. There’s no room to grieve a death, only anger over a possession lost. No anger at the self for having been too weak, only hatred at others for stealing.

_Hack Slash Cut_

He is a single pressurized point of existence. A mass of diamond hard conviction. But he is not alone. Greed is beside him humming _Mine Mine Mine_ and Ling sinks down, down, down into it.

-

Ling is falling. He scrambles for purchase, but Greed is slipping away. He holds on to Greed like a dog with a bone, but the _Mine Mine Mine_ is fading away.

**If you’re gonna be emperor try not to be so gullible**

And Ling comes crashing down on his knees. It should be nice, finally landing after falling for so long, but all Ling feels is a sickening sense of vertigo. The stillness closes in around him and

**See you around**

He’s alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Me: please let me sleep  
My garbage brain: *shits this out*


End file.
